Lions roar to series draw - with a little French assistance

THE BRITISH AND IRISH LIONS secured a dramatic 15-15 draw at Eden Park against New Zealand yesterday, a result which meant the series also finished tied.

It is only the second time that the All Blacks have failed to beat the Lions in a series - and much of that is down to a sharp improvement from Warren Gatland's men.

After all, in the first Test just over two weeks ago, also in Auckland, the tourists were well-beaten after running out of steam in the second half.

The second Test in Wellington, though, was a different story. Trailing 18-9, having been level at half time, it looked as if the Lions' indiscipline might have been their undoing.

But, belatedly, the Lions started using their man advantage which had been gained when Sonny Bill Williams became the first All Black to be sent off for 50 years after he had crashed into the face of Anthony Watson with his shoulder.

First, on the hour, Taulupe Faletau went over in the corner to bring the Lions back into it.

Then, despite another New Zealand penalty in the meantime, Conor Murray added a second try after good work by Jamie George. Owen Farrell converted and the match was all-square at 21-21.

With three minutes left, Farrell then nailed the winning penalty and the Lions could celebrate a first victory over the All Blacks for 24 years.

For New Zealand, this was a first home defeat in 48 matches, a sequence which stretched back to 2009. It was also the first time for 15 years that they had failed to cross the try line in a home Test.

And, of course, it set up yesterday's delectable decider.

The All Blacks, clearly, were a wounded force after their rare defeat - and they allowed the Lions no breathing space in a frantic first half.

Indeed, if they had made the most of their numerous chances, then the late controversy to come would surely have been rendered pretty irrelevant.

As it was, the All Blacks spurned several good opportunities to score, and Ngani Laumape's try was all they had to show for their outright early dominance.

Nevertheless, the try was a thing of beauty as a cross-field kick from Beauden Barrett was patted down by his younger brother Jordie for Laumape to run onto.

Somehow, the Lions stayed in touch with two Farrell penalties - but, just before half time, came a scintillating second All Blacks try, finished off by Jordie Barrett on his first start.

At the interval then, it was 12-6 but the two-nil scoreline in terms of tries was a far better reflection of proceedings.

It looked as if the Lions would need something special - and, within seconds of the start of the second period, they got it through Elliot Daly.

For, though it was not a try, Daly's monstrous kick from inside his own half reduced arrears again to 12-9.

And then the All Blacks were temporarily reduced again to 14 men as French referee Romain Poite harshly penalised Jerome Kaino for a tackle on Alun Wynn Jones.

Once again, the Lions struggled to take advantage of their numerical superiority but a Farrell penalty squared up the match with 20 minutes to go.

Suddenly, it felt as if the Lions were in touching distance of first series win against New Zealand since 1971 and only a second ever.

However, it was the All Blacks who scored next, as Beauden Barrett slotted over after the Lions had collapsed a scrum.

Still, there was time - and, after Rhys Webb was impeded at the breakdown in the centre of the field, Farrell had another scoring opportunity from range.

Again, he nailed it through the centre of the posts - and again the Lions were level with just two minutes left.

Then came the biggest controversy of them all. From the restart, Beauden Barrett launched a short kick and the ball fell between Liam Williams and Kieran Reid before being played onto Ken Owens.

The Welshman was the wrong side of the offside line and it looked for certain as if it was going to be a penalty.

But, oddly, Poite then seemed to go against his instincts and checked upstairs with the video referee.

And, after a couple of minutes of tense deliberation, it was instead decided that Owens' offside had been accidental - and the All Blacks, to the shock of a packed Eden Park, only had a scrum.

To add to the hosts' disgruntlement, the Lions turned the scrum and Webb briefly broke free with the ball. However, a knock-on gave New Zealand - and Jordie Barrett - one last chance.

Just as the youngster charged for the line, though, the Lions' defence barged him into touch. It was the final action of a pulsating contest.

The match had been drawn and - for the first time ever against the All Blacks - the series had been drawn, and it all felt rather unsatisfactory.

New Zealand coach Steve Hansen perhaps summed it up best when he said: "We've ended up with a hand on the trophy each and it's a little bit like kissing your sister. There's not a lot in it for anybody."

But Lions leader Gatland also had his own final say. Having been lampooned in the New Zealand Herald ahead of the series, the Kiwi entered the last press conference wearing a red clown nose.

Far from a clown, though, history will judge Gatland kindly.

After victory in Australia four years ago, his squad has avoided an overall defeat in the toughest contest of all - even if, this time, he needed more than a little French assistance.

BRITISH AND IRISH LIONS TOUR OF NEW ZEALAND

24 June	New Zealand	30-15	British & Irish Lions	Auckland
	T Taylor, Ioane 2 P B Barrett 3 C B Barrett 3	(13-8)	T O'Brien, Webb P Farrell C Farrell
01 July	New Zealand	21-24	British & Irish Lions	Wellington
	P B Barrett 7	(9-9)	T Faletau, Murray P Farrell 4 C Farrell
08 July	New Zealand	15-15	British & Irish Lions	Auckland
	T Laumape, J Barrett P B Barrett C B Barrett	(12-6)	P Farrell 4, Daly

BRITISH AND IRISH LIONS RECORD v NEW ZEALAND
Series 
New Zealand 10 
Lions 1 
Drawn 1

Tests
New Zealand 30
Lions 7
Drawn 4
New Zealand points 700
Lions points 399

Taking Root

JOE ROOT will walk out for the toss at Lord's tomorrow and become the 80th man to captain England in Test cricket.

The 26-year-old Yorkshireman actually took the position back in February following the resignation of Alastair Cook at the start of the year in the wake of a difficult series in India.

But a scheduling quirk has left Root waiting almost five months for his first opportunity to lead his side in the longest form of the game.

Nevertheless, it was always an opportunity likely to come to him. For years, Root has seemed destined to make it to the very top.

Making his Test debut in India in 2012, aged just 21, the angelic-looking youngster quickly gained the respect of his contemporaries for his adept play of spin.

Then, in the 2013 Ashes, Root scored 180 in the second Test at Lord's and England went on to take the series 3-0.

But it was a different matter Down Under in the return. Root started the campaign batting at six but was then moved up the order to three when Jonathan Trott returned home with a stress-related illness.

Eventually, he was dropped altogether for the fifth Test - and thus became probably the clearest example of the selectors' muddled thinking throughout the nightmare tour.

Thankfully, Root recovered and, in the 2014 summer series, he scored an unbeaten 200 against Sri Lanka, though England's form continued to dip in a surprise 1-0 defeat.

Root - by contrast - went from strength to strength, and a sequence of six consecutive Test half centuries in 2015 meant he had swiftly become an integral part of the team.

Moreover, though having to mature after recently becoming a father for the first time, he possesses an infectiously effervescent personality.

It has been established that he is quite happy to play his part in dressing room pranks and it is thought that he might be more positive in his decision-making than the often cautious Cook.

But, inevitably, there have been words of caution from several of predecessors.

It is, after all, a more difficult job now than ever before with the sharp focus of social media adding to the traditional off-the-field corporate and media responsibilities.

On the field, former captain Michael Vaughan estimated he would sometimes make up to 150 decisions per day, whether it was "team changes, bowling changes, field changes", or even simply whether to opt for pace or spin.

And, eventually, Root must also still focus his attention on his own batting - and try to maintain, or get close to maintaining, his excellent current Test average of 52.80.

Who knows? If he really enjoys the responsibilities of the captaincy, there is always a chance that figure will improve still further, in the mode of Graham Gooch.

But, given the list of priorities outlined above, it is more realistic to expect a slight decline in the long run.

Such a consequence would be easily negated if a fresh Root captaincy brought greater confidence overall to England's fragile top order which has struggled now for quite some time.

Even ignoring the India tour, England - on home soil - found themselves, at various times last summer, dealing with scores of 83-5, 84-4, 120-5, 139-6, 110-5, and 128-5.

South Africa, naturally, will not be slow to prey on any further vulnerability in the English batting, as they look for a third series win in England since apartheid ended.

Indeed, it is somewhat curious that Root begins his adventure as skipper against the Proteas.

For, on each of their last three tours, the South Africans have been responsible for ending a captaincy reign with Nasser Hussain (2003), Vaughan (2008), and Andrew Strauss (2012) all stepping down.

Of course, it would take a cricketing disaster, almost beyond imagination, for Root to suffer the same fate.

Nevertheless, with only this difficult series of four Tests and then three Tests later in the summer against West Indies coming before the return of the Ashes this winter, Root could well do with gaining some early momentum.

That is if the Australians sort out their contract dispute and the Ashes series actually still goes ahead...

ENGLAND'S TEST MATCH SUMMER

6-10 July	(1)	ENGLAND 458 & 233 beat SOUTH AFRICA 361 & 119 by 211 runs	Lord's
14-18 July	(2)	SOUTH AFRICA 335 & 343-9d beat ENGLAND 205 & 133 by 340 runs	Trent Bridge
27-31 July	(3)	ENGLAND 353 & 313-8d beat SOUTH AFRICA 175 & 252 by 239 runs	The Oval
4-8 August	(4)	ENGLAND 362 & 243 beat SOUTH AFRICA 226 & 202 by 177 runs	Old Trafford
		ENGLAND beat SOUTH AFRICA 3-1
17-21 August	(1)	ENGLAND v WEST INDIES	Edgbaston
25-29 August	(2)	ENGLAND v WEST INDIES	Headingley
7-11 September	(3)	ENGLAND v WEST INDIES	Lord's

Glastonbury 2017: A Worthy return

THE TRUE measure of a successful visit to Glastonbury Festival is often in the memories which abide, as much as in the experience itself.

So, in that case, Glastonbury 2017 was and still is a glorious triumph.

Even now, more than a week since it started, little moments fill the vacant boredom of everyday life and the corners of my mouth involuntarily curl up at the edge. My eyes dazzle excitedly and I catch myself smiling.

Right from the start, though, I knew this was going to be a special Glastonbury for me.

It was, after all, my first visit for four years - and so, when I eventually arrived on site, late on Thursday, I immediately collapsed to the turf in the manner of a Wimbledon champion who had just landed a winning forehand on championship point.

Time to explore - although, to be totally honest, Thursday night was a little stop-start for me and my companions as we consistently found ourselves in the unfortunate position of greeting the end of a set.

Perhaps it was inevitable that we would end up down a Rabbit Hole that night.

On Friday, we found better form as Chryssie Hynde and the Pretenders opened the Other Stage before we hot-footed it to West Holts for the Hot 8 Brass Band and a taste of festival-strength Brothers Cider.

Liverpool band Circa Waves then infused a summery burst of indie-pop as I clambered on the shoulders of a mate for their set-closer T-Shirt Weather.

"It's gonna be okay" affirmed lead vocalist Kieran Shudall as the band around him played out. Already, though, I knew it was going to be much better than that...

Next for me came the highly-rated Brighton-based Royal Blood and a first proper visit of the year to the Pyramid. Gladly, it can be reported that it was not a disappointment.

Indeed, there must have been few noisier sets of the weekend as duo Mike Kerr and Ben Thatcher celebrated their album How Did We Get So Dark? going to number one by clanging champagne bottles together. The little monsters.

George Ezra did nothing to slow the pace by opening his Other Stage appearance with Cassy O before he strummed his way through a genuinely classy set to Budapest.

Sophie Ellis-Bextor then enticed the Avalon, indulging in a costume change while reminding her audience of her array of hits from the turn of the millennium.

And so, onto the first of the headliners - and Radiohead on Pyramid, 20 years on from the release of OK Computer.

Undoubtedly there was a buzz around the crowd - but, unfortunately for the more casual observer like myself, Thom Yorke had back-filled his set and my thoughts soon began to wander elsewhere.

In the Park, those thoughts found their home, as Wayne Coyne and the Flaming Lips reproduced exactly the sort of bizarre performance which first appealed to me back in 2010.

There is a gentle beauty among all the bizarreness, though - and the cover of David Bowie's Space Oddity was an outstandingly lovely touch before a becalmed crowd faded into the night to the words of Do You Realize??

Saturday already had a lot to live up to meet those opening standards.

Nevertheless, the day got off to a grand start as, on Pyramid, the Bootleg Beatles, marching suits and all, reincarnated Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band on its 50th anniversary.

The Brass Funkeys entertainingly opened up the Avalon tent and kept spirits high amid the drizzle with a cover of One Step Beyond and a blast of the Bear Necessities.

And Jools Holland then brought on a whole array of guests during his set on Pyramid including his old mucker Chris Difford of Squeeze for a rendition of Cool For Cats.

Clearly, though, the afternoon belonged to Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.

Drawing one of the biggest audiences of the weekend, Mr Corbyn's 14-minute speech on Pyramid was, in many ways, largely preaching to a converted choir.

However, in a week in which the Conservatives cheered the retention of a 1% cap on public sector wage growth in the House of Commons, Mr Corbyn's words will still have resonated well beyond the most hardcore of his supporters, and so his battle goes on.

Back to the music - and Saturday evening was a tale of two Katys, as KT Tunstall rolled back the years on the Acoustic stage before pop star-extraordinaire Katy Perry lit up the Pyramid.

The Avalanches provided more nostalgia on West Holts ahead of the Foo Fighters taking to the Pyramid stage.

Cruelly denied the top slot in 2015 when injury forced Dave Grohl to pull out, the Foos made up for lost time by starting with Times Like These and All My Life.

My Hero was dedicated to a naked fan in the audience and, as the set drew to its close, it reached its climax when Monkey Wrench and Best of You came in quick succession.

I think it would be fair to say that we did, indeed, see the best of the Foo Fighters who were on top form throughout - and it set me up for a night which felt at the time it as if it would last forever but now feels as if it was gone in a flash.

At least I know the night finished with people in a packed Silent Disco blasting out Bohemian Rhapsody to each other, and then it literally dawned upon me.

Dawn arrived, the sky was no longer dark - and yet I had not been to bed. Forgive me then for my later start on Sunday...

The final day of the festival began at Other as the Boston-based Dropkick Murphys paid testament to their celtic roots, ahead of a much-anticipated appearance by Rag'n'Bone Man.

Rag'n'Bone was clearly nervous during his set and he even admitted as much - but, thankfully, his voice remained as strong as ever, as he picked his way through the hits from his Human album.

Now, up until this point, the weather had been warm. There had been a little rain on Saturday morning but not enough for the ground to break up. However, for much of the time, the skies had been filled with a leaden cloud-cover.

Perhaps then even the weather knew it was party time on Pyramid as Barry Gibb brought some Saturday Night Fever to Sunday afternoon.

He was followed swiftly by Chic feat Nile Rodgers who brought the whole arena to its feet in a set which included all the hits and covers of Daft Punk and, again, Bowie.

It is difficult to put in words just how brilliant those three hours of disco under clear blue skies and a baking hot sun were - but, as the BeeGee sang, words are all I have.

Following all the dancing and singing, it was time to tone it down a bit - though only via another sing-a-long to the Bootleg Beatles' closer Hey Jude on Acoustic - and we made our way to the Circus Fields.

There, in the Big Top, we watched the stupidly entertaining Flying Dutchmen jugglers on unicycles.

And then the Occam's Razor acrobatics quintet dazzled my mind as a performance featuring huge metal poles played with at all sorts of different angles, the weight and timing of each move being key.

By this time, it was Ed Sheeran's turn to headline Pyramid, only six years after his appearance on the BBC Introducing Stage in 2011.

In fairness to Sheeran, we knew pretty much every number he played in his first hour - but, as this was the last night of Glastonbury for over 700 days, we wanted a big party in which to dance.

Mr Bombastic himself Shaggy - at the Gully Stage in the Silver Hayes area - duly obliged as he sailed through his tunes. Remember, though, it wasn't him...

At that point, all that was left was a final wander around the site, taking in the ever-magnificent Arcadia and ambling into the Bimble Inn for the raga-infused celtic sound of Delhi to Dublin.

One last boogie there and another in the Glade at around 3am on Monday morning just about finished us off as we headed back to our tents to put this festival to bed.

It had been an unbelievable few days, a festival which will not be easily forgotten in a long time.

But that period in the sunshine on Sunday afternoon was a particular highlight so, to conclude this write-up, I will lean upon the words of Bowie which featured on the 2016 Glastonbury t-shirts:

Oh, to capture just one drop of all the ecstasy that swept that afternoon
To paint that love upon a white balloon...

The Sun Machine is Coming Down, and We're Gonna Have a Party

Election 2017: Young hearts run free as May clings on

GENERAL ELECTION

Preview - Results - Review

OVERALL SUMMARY

CON	318 (-13)	42.4% (+5.5%)
LAB	262 (+30)	40.0% (+9.5%)
SNP	35 (-21)	3.0% (-1.7%)
LD	12 (+4)	7.4% (-0.5%)
DUP	10 (+2)	0.9% (+0.3%)
Others	13	6.3%

RESULT CON minority government 
Turnout 68.7% (+2.6%)

THERESA MAY has desperately clung onto her position as Prime Minister following a failed gamble on another dramatic General Election night.

Mrs May's Conservatives won the most votes and most seats in Thursday's poll but they fell short of retaining even the narrow majority which they had previously held.

Consequently, Mrs May has been forced into doing a deal with the Democratic Unionist Party who won 10 seats in Northern Ireland, though it is only a loose arrangement and not a formal coalition.

Certainly, it is not the strong and stable government which Mrs May had set her heart on when she called the election seven weeks ago.

In all, the Tories lost a net total of 23 seats against Labour in England and Wales, and only gains from the Scottish Nationalists provided any solace.

The SNP had won 56 out of the 59 Westminster seats in 2015 but, with their own record in the devolved Holyrood government to defend, they were always likely to go backwards.

Indeed, Nicola Sturgeon's party lost 13% of their previous share of the vote in Scotland, resulting in almost 40% of their MPs being unseated.

The defeated included their former party leader Alec Salmond in Gordon and Angus Robertson, who had been their leader in the House of Commons during the last Parliament.

But the biggest name of the night to lose his seat was former Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg who finally got his comeuppance as Labour gained Sheffield Hallam from the Liberal Democrats.

Despite this, the Lib Dems at least had a mixed night, rather than a totally disastrous one. 

There were modest gains in Scotland at the expense of the SNP and in London against the Conservatives as former ministers Vince Cable, Ed Davey and Jo Swinson all returned to Parliament.

Overall, though, the party's vote share was down slightly, and there was little sign of a revival in their former heartland in south west England.

Elsewhere, Green Party co-leader Caroline Lucas defied a slight decrease in her party's overall vote to retain her Brighton Pavilion seat.

However, the UKIP vote collapsed massively just about everywhere, down from 12.6% to just 1.8%. 

Paul Nuttall was humiliated in the Boston and Skegness constituency, taking only just over 3,000 votes, and he became the only party leader - so far - to resign.

At the time of writing, Mrs May has not followed suit despite this having been a huge personal humiliation for her.

After all, just a few weeks ago, the polls suggested that she was on course for the massive landslide victory which she craved heading into the Brexit negotiations.

In Jeremy Corbyn, she faced a supposed relic of an opponent, a man who had struggled to keep his party united during the course of his leadership.

But, with the launch of the manifestos, the tone of the campaign changed. 

The Conservatives' policy on social care became dubbed the dementia tax and, generally, the discussion moved away from Brexit and towards the provision of services.

Historically stronger ground for Labour, Mr Corbyn was able to point out that - even after seven years of austerity - Mrs May was set to make even more cuts.

Worse still in the eyes of many of the public, the Tories did not even appear to be prepared to defend their policy positions.

For, while Mr Corbyn toured the country holding mass rallies, Mrs May organised small private events with a particularly memorable instance of her hiding away coming in a barn in Aberdeenshire.

Rarely can there ever have been a lazier, more arrogant, more insulting campaign in a General Election in Britain.

Terrorist attacks in Manchester and London, which killed a combined total of 30 people, naturally left a sombre backdrop to the election, and campaigning was briefly suspended twice.

But, on its resumption, Mr Corbyn went straight back on the offensive, criticising Mrs May for cutting police numbers during her six-year tenure as Home Secretary.

Suddenly, it was Mrs May who was having to defend her political past - and there is a certain further irony in her eventual deal with the DUP.

The DUP's past links with loyalist paramilitary groups are more well-founded than anything connecting Mr Corbyn to the IRA - and yet, as it stands, their 10 MPs now hold a significant stake in determining Britain's future.

That, of course, includes the Brexit negotiations. There, a diminished Mrs May, previously a Remainer herself, will head to the table aware that she only retains any sort of power courtesy of MPs from Scotland and Northern Ireland, areas which both voted to stay in the EU.

Already, the lack of authority which Mrs May commands, even within her own party, has been exposed by the resignation today of her two top aides Nick Timothy and Fiona Hill.

But, rather than shoring up Mrs May, their departure undoubtedly makes her weaker still - and, far from delivering her a massive landslide majority, this whole election has turned into a complete mess.

By contrast, things are looking up for Labour. True, the party still finished 56 seats short of the Conservatives - but there has been some excellent progress, especially in the south.

Seats like Peterborough, Enfield Southgate and Reading East - all won in the 1997 landslide under Tony Blair - have returned to the Labour fold after an intervening period of Conservative control.

More astonishingly, Labour gained Canterbury, a seat which had been held by the Tories since its inception in the 1800s.

And then, in the final result to declare, Kensington - the richest constituency in the country - fell to Labour after a third recount.

Overall, Mr Corbyn won over 12 million votes, more than Mr Blair in his "quiet" landslide in 2001 as Labour polled at 40% for only the third time since 1970.

The return of two-party politics has undoubtedly helped - though it has also assisted in keeping the Conservatives in power.

Nevertheless, if there is now going to be a period of binary politics, a strong opposition must now focus on presenting itself as a government-in-waiting. 

That means more support for Mr Corbyn from his own side, less sniping against him and certainly no embarrassingly pointless and diversionary leadership elections.

It seems inconceivable that the Conservatives will not, at some point in the near future, tear themselves apart over Mrs May's continued leadership after her failed gamble. Meanwhile, the arrangement with the DUP is tenuous in the extreme.

This General Election, when it was called, seemed incredibly unnecessary - and yet perhaps the greatest irony of this result is that it has necessitated another. 

Strong and stable times, indeed.

Election 2017: the full results

GENERAL ELECTION

Preview - Results - Review

OVERALL SUMMARY

CON	318 (-13)	42.4% (+5.5%)
LAB	262 (+30)	40.0% (+9.5%)
SNP	35 (-21)	3.0% (-1.7%)
LD	12 (+4)	7.4% (-0.5%)
DUP	10 (+2)	0.9% (+0.3%)
UKIP	0 (-1)	1.8% (-10.8%)
GRN	1 (-)	1.6% (-2.1%)
PC	4 (+1)	0.5% (-0.1%)
Others	8 (-10)	2.4%

RESULT CON minority government 
Turnout 68.7% (+2.6%)

EXIT POLL CON short of a majority.

CON 314 LAB 266 SNP 34 LD 14 PC 3 UKIP 0 GRN 1 OTH 18

REGION-BY-REGION

NORTH EAST ENGLAND

Conservative

Berwick-upon-Tweed - Hexham - Middlesbrough South & East Cleveland

Labour

Bishop Auckland - Blaydon - Blyth Valley - Darlington - City of Durham - North Durham - North West Durham - Easington - Gateshead - Hartlepool - Houghton & Sunderland South - Jarrow - Middlesbrough - Newcastle upon Tyne Central - Newcastle upon Tyne East - Newcastle upon Tyne North - Sedgefield - South Shields - Stockton North - Stockton South - Sunderland Central - Tynemouth - North Tyneside - Redcar - Wansbeck - Washington & Sunderland West

NORTH WEST ENGLAND

Conservative

Altrincham & Sale West - Blackpool North & Cleveleys - Bolton West - Carlisle - Cheadle - Congleton - Copeland - Eddisbury - Fylde - Hazel Grove - Macclesfield - Morecambe & Lunesdale - Pendle - Penrith & The Border - Ribble Valley - Rossendale & Darwen - South Ribble - Southport - Tatton - Wyre & Preston North

Labour

Ashton Under Lyne - Barrow & Furness - Birkenhead - Blackburn - Blackley & Broughton - Blackpool South - Bolton North East - Bolton South East - Bootle - Burnley - Bury South - Bury North - City of Chester - Chorley - Crewe & Nantwich - Denton & Reddish - Ellesmere Port & Neston - Garston & Halewood - Halton - Heywood & Middleton - Hyndburn - Knowsley - Lancashire West - Lancaster & Fleetwood - Leigh - Liverpool Riverside - Liverpool Walton - Liverpool Wavertree - Liverpool West Derby - Makerfield - Manchester Central - Manchester Gorton - Manchester Withington - Oldham East & Saddleworth - Oldham West & Royton - Preston - Rochdale - St Helens North - St Helens South & Whiston - Salford & Eccles - Sefton Central - Stalybridge & Hyde - Stockport - Stretford & Urmston - Wallasey - Warrington North - Warrington South - Weaver Vale - Wigan - Wirral South - Wirral West - Workington - Worsley & Eccles South - Wythenshawe & Sale East

Liberal Democrats

Westmorland & Lonsdale

YORKSHIRE & HUMBER

Conservative

Beverley & Holderness - Brigg & Goole - Calder Valley - Cleethorpes - Elmet & Rothwell - Haltemprice & Howden - Harrogate & Knaresborough -  - Morley & Outwood - Pudsey - Richmond - Scarborough & Whitby - Selby & Ainsty - Shipley - Skipton & Ripon - Thirsk & Malton - York Outer - East Yorkshire

Labour

Barnsley Central - Barnsley East - Batley & Spen - Bradford East - Bradford South - Bradford West - Colne Valley - Dewsbury - Don Valley - Doncaster Central - Doncaster North - Great Grimsby - Halifax - Hemsworth - Huddersfield - Keighley - Kingston-upon-Hull East - Kingston-upon-Hull North - Kingston-upon-Hull West & Hessle - Leeds Central - Leeds East - Leeds North East - Leeds North West - Leeds West - Normanton, Pontefract & Castleford - Penistone & Stocksbrige - Rother Valley - Rotherham - Scunthorpe - Sheffield Brightside & Hillsborough - Sheffield Central - Sheffield Hallam - Sheffield Heeley - Sheffield South East - Wakefield - Wentworth & Dearne - York Central

EAST MIDLANDS

Conservative

Amber Valley - Boston & Skegness - Bosworth - Broxtowe - Charnwood - Corby - Daventry - Derbyshire Dales - Mid Derbyshire - North East Derbyshire - South Derbyshire - Erewash - Gainsborough - Grantham & Stamford - Harborough - Kettering - North West Leicestershire - South Leicestershire - Loughborough - Louth & Horncastle - Mansfield - Newark - Northampton North - Northampton South - South Northamptonshire - Rushcliffe - Rutland & Melton - Sherwood - Sleaford & North Hykeham - South Holland & The Deepings - Wellingborough

Labour

Ashfield - Bassetlaw - Bolsover - Chesterfield - Derby North - Derby South - Gedling - High Peak - Leicester East - Leicester South - Leicester West - Lincoln- Nottingham East - Nottingham North - Nottingham South

WEST MIDLANDS

Conservative

Aldridge-Brownhills - Bromsgrove - Burton - Cannock Chase - Dudley South - Halesowen & Rowley Regis - Hereford & South Herefordshire - North Herefordshire - Kenilworth & Southam - Lichfield - Ludlow - Meriden - Nuneaton - Redditch - Rugby - Shrewsbury & Atcham - North Shropshire - Solihull - Stafford - Staffordshire Moorlands - South Staffordshire - Stoke-on-Trent South - Stone - Stourbridge - Stratford-on-Avon - Sutton Coldfield - Tamworth - Telford - North Warwickshire - Worcester - Mid Worcestershire 

Labour

Birmingham Edgbaston - Birmingham Erdington - Birmingham Hall Green - Birmingham Hodge Hill - Birmingham Ladywood - Birmingham Northfield - Birmingham Perry Barr - Birmingham Selly Oak - Birmingham Yardley - Coventry North East - Coventry North West - Coventry South - Dudley North - Newcastle-under-Lyme - Stoke-on-Trent Central - Stoke-on-Trent North - Walsall North - Walsall South - Warley - Warwick & Leamington - West Bromwich East - West Bromwich West - Wolverhampton North East - Wolverhampton South East - Wolverhampton South West

EAST ENGLAND

Conservative

Basildon & Billericay - South Basildon & East Thurrock - Mid Bedfordshire - North East Bedfordshire - South West Bedfordshire - Braintree - Brentwood & Ongar - Broadland - Broxbourne - Bury St Edmunds - North East Cambridgeshire - North West Cambridgeshire - South Cambridgeshire - South East Cambridgeshire - Castle Point - Chelmsford - Clacton - Colchester - Epping Forest - Great Yarmouth - Harlow - Harwich & North Essex - Hemel Hempstead - Hertford & Stortford - North East Hertfordshire - South West Hertfordshire - Hertsmere - Hitchin & Harpenden - Huntingdon - Maldon - Mid Norfolk - North West Norfolk - South Norfolk - South West Norfolk - Norwich North - Rayleigh & Wickford - Rochford & Southend East - Saffron Walden - St Albans - Southend West - Stevenage - Central Suffolk & Ipswich North - Suffolk Coastal - South Suffolk - West Suffolk - Thurrock - Watford - Waveney - Welwyn Hatfield - Witham

Labour

Bedford - Cambridge - Ipswich - Luton North - Luton South - Norwich South - Peterborough

Liberal Democrats 
North Norfolk

SOUTH EAST ENGLAND

Conservative

Aldershot - Arundel & South Downs - Ashford - Aylesbury - Banbury - Basingstoke - Beaconsfield - Bexhill & Battle - Bognor Regis & Littlehampton - Bracknell - Chatham & Aylesford - Chesham & Amersham - Chichester - Crawley - Dartford - Dover - Eastleigh - Epsom & Ewell - Esher & Walton - Fareham - Faversham & Mid Kent - Folkestone & Hythe - Gillingham & Rainham - Gosport - Gravesham - Guildford - East Hampshire - North East Hampshire - North West Hampshire - Hastings & Rye - Havant - Henley - Horsham - Isle of Wight - Lewes - Maidenhead - Maidstone & The Weald - Meon Valley - Milton Keynes North - Milton Keynes South - Mole Valley - New Forest East - New Forest West - Newbury - Portsmouth North - Reading West - Reigate - Rochester & Strood - Romsey & Southampton North - Runnymede & Weybridge - Sevenoaks - Sittingbourne & Sheppey - Southampton Itchen - Spelthorne - East Surrey - Surrey Heath - South West Surrey - Mid Sussex - North Thanet - South Thanet - Tonbridge & Malling - Tunbridge Wells - Wantage - Wealden - Winchester - Windsor - Witney - Woking - Wokingham - Worthing East & Shoreham - Worthing West - Wycombe

Labour

Brighton Kemptown - Canterbury - Hove - Oxford East - Portsmouth South - Reading East - Slough - Southampton Test

Liberal Democrats

Eastbourne - Oxford West and Abingdon

Green

Brighton Pavilion

Speaker

Buckinghamshire

LONDON

Conservative

Beckenham - Bexleyheath & Crayford - Bromley & Chislehurst - Chelsea & Fulham - Chingford & Woodford Green - Chipping Barnet - Cities of London & Westminster - Croydon South - Finchley & Golders Green - Harrow East - Hendon - Hornchurch & Upminster - Old Bexley & Sidcup - Orpington - Putney - Romford - Ruislip, Northwood & Pinner - Richmond Park - Sutton & Cheam - Uxbridge & Ruislip South - Wimbledon

Labour

Barking - Battersea - Bermondsey & Old Southwark - Bethnal Green & Bow - Brentford & Isleworth - Brent Central - Brent North - Camberwell & Peckham - Croydon Central - Croydon North - Dagenham & Rainham - Dulwich & West Norwood - Ealing Central & Acton - Ealing North - Ealing Southall - East Ham - Edmonton - Eltham - Enfield North - Enfield Southgate - Erith & Thamesmead - Feltham & Heston - Greenwich & Woolwich - Hackney North & Stoke Newington - Hackney South & Shoreditch - Hammersmith - Hampstead & Kilburn - Harrow West - Hayes & Harlington - Holborn & St Pancras - Hornsey & Wood Green - Ilford North - Ilford South - Islington North - Islington South & Finsbury - Kensington - Lewisham Deptford - Lewisham East - Lewisham West & Penge - Leyton & Wantstead - Mitcham & Morden - Poplar & Limehouse - Streatham - Tooting - Tottenham - Vauxhall - Walthamstow - West Ham - Westminster North 

Liberal Democrats

Carshalton & Wallington - Kingston & Surbiton - Twickenham

SOUTH WEST ENGLAND

Conservative

Bournemouth East - Bournemouth West - Bridgwater & Somerset West - Camborne & Redruth - Cheltenham - Chippenham - Christchurch - North Cornwall - South East Cornwall - The Cotswolds - Devizes - Central Devon - East Devon - North Devon - South West Devon - West Devon and Torridge - Mid Dorset and North Poole - North Dorset - South Dorset - West Dorset - Filton & Bradley Stoke - Forest of Dean - Gloucester - Kingswood - Newton Abbot - Plymouth Moor View - Poole - St Austell & Newquay - St Ives - Salisbury - North Somerset - North East Somerset - Somerton & Frome - North Swindon - South Swindon - Taunton Deane - Tewkesbury - Thornbury & Yate - Tiverton & Honiton - Torbay - Totnes - Truro & Falmouth - Wells - Weston-Super-Mare - North Wiltshire - South West Wiltshire - Yeovil  

Labour

Bristol East - Bristol North West - Bristol South - Bristol West - Exeter - Plymouth Sutton & Devonport - Stroud

Liberal Democrats

Bath

SCOTLAND

Conservative

Aberdeen South - Aberdeenshire West & Kincardine - Angus - Ayr, Carrick & Cumnock - Banff & Buchan - Berwickshire, Roxburgh & Selkirk - Dumfries & Galloway - Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale & Tweeddale - Gordon - Moray - Ochil & South Perthshire - East Renfewshire - Stirling

Labour
Coatbridge, Chryston & Bellshill - East Lothian - Edinburgh South - Glasgow North East - Kirkcaldy & Cowdenbeath - Midlothian - Rutherglen & Hamilton West 

Scottish National Party

Aberdeen North - Airdree & Shotts - Argyll & Bute - Ayrshire Central - Ayrshire North & Arran - Cumbernauld, Kilsyth & Kirkintilloch East  - West Dunbartonshire - Dundee East - Dundee West - Dunfermline & West Fife - East Kilbride, Strathaven & Lesmahagow - Edinburgh East - Edinburgh North & Leith - Edinburgh South West - Falkirk - North East Fife - Glasgow Central - Glasgow East - Glasgow North  - Glasgow North West - Glasgow South - Glasgow South West - Glenrothes - Inverclyde - Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch & Strathspey - Kilmarnock & Loudoun - Lanark & Hamilton East - Linlithgow & Falkirk East - Livingston - Motherwell & Wishaw - Na h-Eileanan an lar - Paisley & Renfrewshire North - Paisley & Renfrewshire South - Perth & North Perthshire - Ross, Sky & Lochaber

Liberal Democrats

Caithness, Sutherland & Easter Ross - East Dunbartonshire - Edinburgh West - Orkney & Shetland

WALES

Conservative

Aberconwy - Brecon & Radnorshire - Carmarthen West & South Pembrokeshire - Clwyd West - Monmouth - Montgomeryshire - Preseli Pembrokeshire - Vale of Glamorgan

Labour

Aberavon - Alyn & Deeside - Blaenau Gwent - Bridgend - Caerphilly - Cardiff Central - Cardiff North - Cardiff South & Penarth - Cardiff West - Clwyd South - Cynon Valley - Delyn - Gower - Islwyn - Llanelli - Merthyr Tydfil & Rhymney - Neath - Newport East - Newport West - Ogmore - Pontypridd - Rhondda - Swansea East - Swansea West - Torfaen - Vale of Clwyd - Wrexham - Ynys Mon

Plaid Cymru

Arfon - Carmarthen East & Dinefwr - Ceredigion - Dwyfor Meirionnydd  

NORTHERN IRELAND

Democratic Unionist

Belfast East - Belfast North - Belfast South - East Antrim - East Londonderry - Lagan Valley - North Antrim - South Antrim - Strangford - Upper Bann
Sinn Fein

Belfast West - Fermanagh & South Tyrone - Foyle - Mid Ulster - Newry & Armagh - South Down - West Tyrone

Independent

North Down

Election 2017: In the hands of the youth?

GENERAL ELECTION 2017

 Preview - Results - Review

	Winner	Turnout (change)	18-24 (diff)	25-34 (diff)	65+ (diff)
1979	Thatcher	76.0%	62.5% (-13.5%)	72.4% (-3.6%)	77.7% (+1.7%)
1983	Thatcher	72.7% (-3.3%)	63.9% (-8.8%)	67.6% (-5.1%)	73.1% (+0.4%)
1987	Thatcher	75.3% (+2.6%)	66.6% (-8.7%)	74.0% (-1.3%)	76.0% (+0.7%)
1992	Major	77.7% (+2.4%)	67.3% (-10.4%)	77.3% (-0.4%)	79.2% (+1.5%)
1997	Blair	71.3% (-6.4%)	54.1% (-17.2%)	62.2% (-9.1%)	77.7% (+6.4%)
2001	Blair	59.4% (-11.9%)	40.4% (-19.0%)	45.0% (-14.4%)	70.1% (+10.7%)
2005	Blair	61.4% (+2.0%)	38.2% (-23.2%)	47.7% (-13.7%)	74.3% (+12.9%)
2010	hung	65.1% (+3.7%)	51.8% (-13.3%)	57.3% (-7.8%)	74.7% (+9.6%)
2015	Cameron	66.4% (+1.3%)	43.0% (-23.4%)	54.0% (-12.4%)	78.0% (+11.6%)

Source (1979-2010), Source (2015)

LABOUR hopes of a spectacular General Election win today will rely on harnessing the votes of the notoriously unreliable younger voting groups.

Jeremy Corbyn's party holds strong leads in both the 18-24 and 25-34 age categories, according to the pollsters.

But, despite a difficult campaign for the Conservatives in which their overall poll lead has been at least halved, Theresa May retains a solid core of support among the far more reliable over-65s.

If ever, then, there was an election for younger voters finally to seize the narrative and determine their own destiny, it has to be this one.

At the most recent General Election in 2015, only 27% of under-25s voted Conservative - and yet David Cameron sneaked an unexpected overall majority.

It does not take long to work out that a big reason for that was because only 43% of under-25s actually voted, compared to approximately 78% of over-65s.

Of course, as a result of earning his majority, Mr Cameron had to honour his vow of holding a referendum on Britain's membership of the European Union.

And so, just under a year ago, the vast majority of under-25s who actually voted were again left to watch on as the older age groups decided on Brexit.

Almost three-quarters of young voters who visited the polls in the EU referendum opted for remain - but, once again, they found quite simply that there were not enough of them.

Now, of course, this is hardly the fault of the older voters - as the above table shows, their turnout rates have remained consistently high, at or above 70%.

By contrast, though, turnout among under-25s fell from a respectable 67.3% in 1992 to just 38.2% in 2005. There was a slight recovery in 2010 before again less than half of the demographic went to the polls in 2015.

For the next age-group up - those aged between 25 and 34 - the numbers are not much prettier. In 1992, this age group had a turnout of 77.7%, a percentage which was pretty much in line with the overall figure.

But, in the 2001 and 2005 elections, less than half of this age group voted. Again there was a slight recovery in 2010 and this slight increase was largely retained in 2015. However, it means that there are still only just more than half of the eligible voters in this group actually voting.

Oddly enough, this will be the last General Election in which I will personally fall into the 25-34 age-group category - yes, dear reader, I am getting old.

My first reaction to the General Election being called by Mrs May on 18 April was pretty much in line with Brenda from Bristol who aired her total disbelief at the announcement of yet another major political event.

After all, this is the third General Election in just seven years, a period in which there have also been two nationwide referendums - in 2011 and 2016 - and a separate vote in Scotland on independence, in 2014.

Election fatigue had well and truly set in, and - to some extent - that still remains the case now.

I intend to follow the results during the night and I expect I will write up some sort of analysis of the eventual outcome - but do not expect a slurry of posts on here or on my social media. It is just not my style.

Having originally intended to sit this election out altogether, though, I have decided that I will cast a vote today.

For far too long now, the votes of the two youngest age groups have been suppressed by the sort of self-destructive attitude which I had at the start of the campaign.

But, this time, it might just be different - and that suggestion is not just a noise coming from the social media echo chambers.

Reports of much higher turnout among under 25s have been fuelled by actual confirmation in a record increase in registrations before the deadline on 22 May.

The Brexit vote last June was arguably swung by the registrations of previously disenchanted voters deciding to enter a polling booth for the first time in years. Could a similar shock occur in this poll?

Frankly, it still seems unlikely and it would be wise not to get too invested in the hope of a dramatic night.

A straight-forward Conservative majority is still odds-on with the bookmakers - but, if that does not sound to your liking, the only way that will change is by voting.

Conversely, if it does align with your preference, then again the only way of ensuring it happens is by visiting the polling station.

Please note then that this blog post is not acting to persuade its reader into voting one way or another.

However, it does request that you actually use the power of your vote, especially if you fall into one of the youngest two age groups.

Polling stations are open nationwide from 7am until 10pm. 

Election programmes begin on BBC, ITV and Sky at 9.55pm and continue through the night. A joint exit poll, commissioned by the three broadcasters, will be released at 10pm prompt.

The Season 2016/17: For the record - Winners and losers

THE SEASON 2016/17

ENGLAND
Premier League
Champions Chelsea
Runners-up Tottenham Hotspur
Champions League Manchester City, Liverpool, Manchester United*
Europa League Arsenal, Everton
Relegation Hull City, Middlesbrough, Sunderland
*courtesy of winning the Europa League

Championship
Champions Newcastle United
Runners-up Brighton & Hove Albion
Playoff winners Huddersfield Town (beat Reading 4-3 on penalties in the Final, after 0-0 aet)
Relegation Blackburn Rovers, Wigan Athletic, Rotherham United

League One
Champions Sheffield United
Runners-up Bolton Wanderers
Playoff winners Millwall (beat Bradford City 1-0 in the Final)
Relegation Port Vale, Swindon Town, Coventry City, Chesterfield

League Two
Champions Portsmouth
Runners-up Plymouth Argyle
Also promoted Doncaster Rovers 
Playoff winners Blackpool (beat Exeter City 2-1 in the Final)
Relegation Hartlepool United, Leyton Orient

Conference Premier
Champions Lincoln City
Playoff winners Forest Green Rovers (beat Tranmere Rovers 3-1 in the Final)
Relegation York City, Braintree Town, Southport, North Ferriby United

Conference North
Champions AFC Fylde
Playoff winners FC Halifax Town (beat Chorley 2-1 aet in the Final)
Relegation Worcester City, Stalybridge Celtic, Altrincham

Conference South
Champions Maidenhead United
Playoff winners Ebbsfleet United (beat Chelmsford City 2-1 in the Final)
Relegation Gosport Borough, Bishop's Stortford, Margate

Domestic Cup Finals
All matches played at Wembley
FA Cup Final Arsenal 2-1 Chelsea
League Cup Final Manchester United 3-2 Southampton
FA Community Shield Manchester United 2-1 Leicester City
EFL Trophy Coventry City 2-1 Oxford United
FA Trophy York City 3-2 Macclesfield Town
FA Vase South Shields 4-0 Cleethorpes Town

SCOTLAND
Premier League
Champions Celtic
Runners-up Aberdeen
Europa League Aberdeen, Rangers, St Johnstone
Relegation Inverness Caledonian Thistle

Championship
Champions Hibernian
Runners-up (not promoted) Falkirk
Relegation Raith Rovers, Ayr United

League One
Champions Livingston
Also promoted Brechin City (fourth place) (beat runners-up Alloa Athletic 5-4 on penalties after 4-4 on agg (1-0h, 3-4aet a))
Relegation Peterhead, Stenhousemuir

League Two
Champions Arbroath
Runners-up (promoted) Forfar Athletic (beat Peterhead 7-2 on agg (2-1h, 5-1a)
Relegation None. Cowdenbeath finished bottom but beat East Kilbride 5-3 on penalties after 1-1 on agg (0-0a, 1-1aet h)

Domestic Cup Finals
FA Cup Final Celtic 2-1 Aberdeen
League Cup Final Celtic 3-0 Aberdeen
Challenge Cup Final Dundee United 2-1 St Mirren

WALES/NORTHERN IRELAND
Welsh Premier League
Champions The New Saints
Europa League Connah's Quay Nomads (runners-up), Bala Town (third place), Bangor City (playoff winners)
Relegation Rhyl, Airbus UK Broughton

NIFL Premiership
Champions Linfield
Europa League Crusaders (runners-up), Coleraine (third place), Ballymena United (playoff winners)
Relegation Portadown

Domestic Cup Finals
Welsh FA Cup Final Bala Town 2-1 The New Saints
Welsh League Cup Final The New Saints 4-0 Barry Town United
IFA Cup Final Linfield 3-0 Coleraine
Northern Irish League Cup Final Ballymena United 2-0 Carrick Rangers

EUROPE
UEFA Finals
Champions League Real Madrid (Spa) 4-1 Juventus (Ita) 
Europa League Manchester United (Eng) 2-0 Ajax Amsterdam (Ned)
Super Cup Real Madrid (Spa) 3-2 Sevilla (Spa) after extra time

Major European League champions
Spain Real Madrid
Italy Juventus
Germany Bayern Munich
France AS Monaco
Portugal Benfica
Netherlands Feyenoord
Belgium Anderlecht
Greece Olympiacos
Turkey Beşiktaş

Mission accomplished

HOW time flies! This time last year, Newcastle United were heading out of the Premier League, heads bowed, after local rivals Sunderland had secured their place in the elite with an easy win over Everton.

In 2016/17, there was a complete turnaround. Having retained the services of manager Rafa Benitez, the Magpies made an immediate return to the top flight, and added the Championship title on the final day in dramatic fashion.

Meanwhile, Sunderland have found themselves completely out of their depth, with relegation arriving on Wearside with weeks of the season still to spare.

Of course, every season has some matches - and, indeed, some moments of matches - which end up sticking in the memory longer than others.

So, here is my personal run-down of the stand-out results which ended up taking Newcastle to the title.

17-Aug v Reading (H) W4-1
The immediate response to this result was undoubtedly relief. Having lost the opening two games of the campaign away to Fulham and at home against Huddersfield Town, victory over the Royals was what could only be described as a nerve-settler. Even in the course of this contest, though, Newcastle made life hard for themselves, conceding on the stroke of half-time for the third match in a row. Thankfully, a strong second half performance secured the points as Dwight Gayle scored a brace, with one of his goals coming from a glorious free-kick.

13-Sep v Queens Park Rangers (A) W6-0
Newcastle had racked up five league and cup wins in a row as they made the trip to west London to face Queens Park Rangers at Loftus Road - and those early season nerves seemed to have entirely receded on a night of complete domination from Benitez's men. The Magpies peppered the Rangers' goal continuously and a remarkable total of 29 shots brought half-a-dozen goals even without the services of Gayle who sat on the bench for the full 90 minutes.

28-Sep v Norwich City (H) W4-3
Gayle was back in the starting line-up for the fixtures which followed - but a league defeat at home to Wolverhampton Wanderers and a draw at Aston Villa had left Newcastle playing catch-up again. On one of the craziest nights of recent years at St James Park, it looked - at first - as if it was going to get worse. Newcastle missed a hatful of first half chances, conceded another penalty on the stroke of half-time, and then somehow found themselves 3-1 down mid-way through the second half.
But, with one glorious 60-yard pass, Jonjo Shelvey turned the match back in United's favour: having let the ball run over his shoulder, Gayle controlled it brilliantly before slotting the ball home with his second touch. The goalscorer immediately retrieved the ball from the back of the net and there followed a spell of relentless Newcastle pressure amid a feverish atmosphere.
To their credit, Norwich held out until deep into stoppage time before Yoan Gouffran bundled home an equaliser in the 95th-minute from six yards. But, even then, there was to be one final twist as yet another Shelvey ball forward was chested down by Aleksandar Mitrovic for Gayle to slot coolly into the bottom left-hand corner of the Leazes net. Newcastle had gone from ninth in the table up to third in the space of a few seconds.

18-Oct v Barnsley (A) W2-0
This was a fairly run-of-the-mill win by Championship standards as a goalless game at the interval inevitably turned in Newcastle's favour thanks to the goalscoring instincts of Gayle. Another two goals at Oakwell - including a beautifully lofted finish for his second - put the Walthamstow-born forward into double figures for the season as early as mid-October. Perhaps most significantly though, this result put Newcastle top of the table for the first time all season amid a winning run which dated back to that glorious Norwich comeback. Could Benitez's team do it on a cold Tuesday night in Barnsley? The question was unequivocally answered there in a positive fashion.

20-Nov v Leeds United (A) W2-0
The winning run continued and had reached eight league-and-cup games by the time Newcastle arrived at Elland Road for a Sunday lunchtime kick-off against Leeds United. The Yorkshire outfit were enjoying their best season in years with Gary Monk at the helm and appeared well-set to provide the Magpies with arguably their sternest match of the season. But, as it happened, Newcastle were in control from the start - and, though it took a howler from Rob Green in goal to gift-wrap the first for Gayle, a superbly-worked second goal ensured this would be one of the most comfortable wins of the season. Instead, in typical Newcastle fashion, the nine-match win streak would end at home to lowly Blackburn Rovers six days later...

29-Nov v Hull City (A) D1-1, lost 1-3 on penalties
In fairness to Newcastle, the Blackburn match was not the priority that week - all eyes already were on the League Cup quarter final tie against Premier League strugglers Hull City. The comparative confidence of both teams was in evidence throughout the tie but Newcastle were wasteful in front of goal and the match drifted into extra-time.
Shorn of a man following the dismissal of Dieumerci Mbokani, Hull continued to be put on the back-foot and United eventually appeared to have got their reward through former Hull man Mo Diame. Within seconds though, the Tigers had equalised as error-prone Belgian goalkeeper Mats Selz parried the ball straight out to Robert Snodgrass. The momentum was lost and never regained and three awful misses in the prevailing penalty shoot-out - from Gayle, Shelvey and Gouffran - wrote another chapter into the Magpies' woeful spot-kick history.
It seems odd to include this match in the middle of a list of Championship wins but, though the night in Hull ended in disappointment, the cup run which preceded it had brought genuine excitement to Tyneside, with the 6-0 home thumping of Preston North End proving to be the highlight. After all, the cups remain the best chance of Newcastle tasting some sort of top-level glory - and hopefully this will serve only as some sort of aperitif under Benitez.

10-Dec v Birmingham City (H) W4-0
Back to business in the league - and a bad week following the defeats to Blackburn and Hull was made immeasurably worse by the refereeing incompetence of Steve Martin against Nottingham Forest. Martin appeared to audition in the role of his comedy namesake in a film about how not to take charge of a football match as he sent off Paul Dummett and Shelvey - both red cards were later rescinded - and also gave Forest two penalties, both of which were saved by former Reds man Karl Darlow. Forest eventually won the match 2-1 but only after an unfortunate late own goal from another former Reds man Jamaal Lascelles.
It was to some relief then that Newcastle were able to put the nightmare at the City Ground behind them as an accomplished performance easily saw off Birmingham City in the first of four meetings this season against the Blues. Gayle scored a perfect hat-trick as goals with his head, left-foot and right-foot sent Newcastle on their way to an easy win in the final home game before Christmas.

30-Dec v Nottingham Forest (H) W3-1
Newcastle remained top of the table at Christmas following away wins at Wigan Athletic and Burton Albion - but were beaten 1-0 by Sheffield Wednesday at home in a poor performance on Boxing Day. In a sense then, Forest was the perfect next fixture - a sense of injustice over what had occurred earlier in the month remained and contributed to a heady atmosphere already topped up by a festive sherry or two.
A deflected Matt Ritchie free-kick after only four minutes stoked up the crowd even more but Forest recovered and came back into the contest to equalise before half-time. Newcastle were not to be denied their revenge, however, as yet another Gayle brace righted the wrong of exactly four weeks earlier.

20-Feb v Aston Villa (H) W2-0
There was more revenge in the air just over seven weeks later with Villa as the visitors to St James Park for a Monday night fixture. That was mainly down to one man: Henri Lansbury. The failed Arsenal graduate directly led to two Newcastle players being sent off in the match away at Forest in early December - and then, having missed the return of fixture at St James Park, transferred from Forest to Villa in January.
Belatedly appearing at St James, Lansbury was again centre of attention - but this time for all the wrong reasons from his perspective. Stood on the post defending a second-half corner, Lansbury had the task of clearing a goal-bound Lascelles header. Instead, he could only touch the ball onto the post with the rebound coming off his heel and into the net, and the Gallowgate erupted as he clutched the upright in despair. That was the second goal following a scrappy effort at the end of the first half from Yoan Gouffran - as Newcastle breezed to victory. Never has karma been so richly observed.

28-Feb v Brighton & Hove Albion (A) W2-1
Tougher tests than Villa still awaited Newcastle, however - though none tougher than Brighton & Hove Albion. The Seagulls - managed by Chris Hughton who had got Newcastle promoted seven years earlier - would match the Magpies stride-for-stride during the campaign. In fact, the two dropped points at home to Bristol City, had cost United top spot heading into this contest. Nevertheless, Benitez's men would return to the summit following a dramatic finish on the south coast.
A soft penalty - awarded following a 50-50 skirmish between Ciaran Clark and Glenn Murray - allowed Brighton to take the lead after just 14 minutes though the home side had dominated the opening spell. Hughton's men missed chances to extend their lead, however, and Newcastle gradually grew in confidence, pushing hard in the second half for an equaliser.
Eventually, on 80 minutes, it came - though it came in the most fortunate of fashion, with the ball looping off Diame's heel from Christian Atsu's initial effort. More spectacularly still, a winner arrived and it was a goal of real quality as Ritchie pinged the ball out to Atsu who fired a low cross to Ayoze Perez. The Spaniard finished clinically from 12 yards.

04-Mar v Huddersfield Town (A) W3-1
Buoyed by success on the south coast, United next headed to west Yorkshire for another top-of-the-table clash against Huddersfield Town - and the confidence emanating from the team following the Brighton result was in evidence as the Magpies took a 2-0 lead into half-time through goals from Ritchie and valuable low-key signing Daryl Murphy.
David Wagner's Terriers had plenty of the ball but had been restricted largely to pot-shots from range until Shelvey conceded a daft penalty. Aaron Mooy converted for the hosts - but Newcastle continued to remain calm and even got a third on the break as the returning Gayle made the most of his appearance off the bench by wrapping up the points. Hell week was not even quite over - United still had Reading away to play - but two wins in five days had put already put them in an almost impenetrable position... or so it would seem.

05-Apr v Burton Albion (H) W1-0
It was natural perhaps that Newcastle had considered their work was over with those wins over Brighton and Huddersfield, and the Magpies picked up only one point out of their next three games against Reading, Fulham and Birmingham. Wigan were beaten at least but Burton at home looked like a real banana skin.
Ultimately the Brewers provided little threat but Newcastle were almost denied victory by another incredible display of incompetent officiating, this time from Hampshire referee Keith Stroud. Having awarded the Magpies a penalty which Ritchie converted, Stroud disallowed the goal and blew for an indirect free-kick to Burton, though only after about seven minutes of consultation with his linesman and the fourth official. Numerous theories abounded with the decision taking so long - had Gayle fouled his marker in the seconds between the whistle and the strike? Had the slight feint from Ritchie been classed as ungentlemanly conduct?
It was eventually confirmed that the decision had been made because of encroachment - but, as Newcastle had scored, the penalty should have been retaken. Regardless, Newcastle were not ahead - and the controversy naturally had an effect on the players who made heavy work of the game. All with the exception of Ritchie. On several occasions across the season, Ritchie's sheer desire dragged the Magpies through - but the Scotland international is not just a workhorse and his quality was evident in his eventual goal in this match, a fine right-footed curler at the Leazes end. Chalk that one off, Stroud.

24-Apr v Preston North End (H) W4-1
Even after the back-to-back Wigan and Burton wins, Newcastle had another wobble - one point from nine against Sheffield Wednesday, Leeds and Ipswich Town had left United looking over their shoulders again. The defeat at Ipswich on Easter Monday looked particularly costly as, though Huddersfield were eight points behind, they had two games in hand, one of which was played later that night against Derby County.
Huddersfield took an early lead against the Rams but a late Jacob Butterfield equaliser stopped the Terriers from gaining too much ground - and United were off the hook. The Terriers subsequently lost their way altogether - and a home defeat for them against Fulham combined with Reading's reverse at Forest gave Newcastle the chance to wrap up promotion with two games to spare.
That chance was taken with a minimum of fuss against a kindly opposition in Preston. True, North End equalised Perez's early goal but - once the visitors had been reduced to ten men - Newcastle simply had too much. Indeed,  the midpoint of the second half, when Perez scored his second and Newcastle's fourth, signalled the start of a promotion party with the players celebrating in front of the Gallowgate end before Benitez joined them to acknowledge the adulation.
It was job done - or so it appeared - but, with just two games left and Brighton still four points clear, it also looked as if Newcastle would only be going up as runners-up...

07-May v Barnsley (H) W6-0
Then Brighton wobbled - rocked by a bizarre defeat to Norwich in which goalkeeper David Stockdale scored two own goals, the Seagulls suffered another more straight-forward reverse against Bristol City by simply failing to turn up at all. Suddenly, the title race was back on - though, with Brighton playing at Villa, Newcastle were still second favourites.
All that the Magpies could do was their own job - and goals from Perez, Chancel Mbemba, and yet another strike from Gayle sealed the points easily. It was less clear what was going on at Villa Park with rumour and counter-rumour spreading across the Gallowgate, not helped by a lack of phone reception. Eventually it was established that Brighton had gone 1-0 up through a penalty and Villa were down to 10 men. Hopes of the title dashed?
Not so - for, just as a confused atmosphere at St James considered promotion without a title, news of a Villa goal filtered through and then to an ear-shattering roar were confirmed, only moments after Gayle had celebrated in front of the Strawberry corner in style. A nervous wait then ensued with full time at Villa Park coming a few minutes after the game at St James had already finished.
Suddenly, another roar went up and the players began dancing on the pitch amid wild celebrations in the stands. Brighton had indeed only managed to draw, Newcastle were going up as champions. A stage was hastily built on the half-way line and the players were called out one-by-one before enjoying a lap of honour with their families. Benitez followed only slightly behind to take in hero-worship from all four corners. It was the stuff of dreams.
After the game, the fans poured out into Newcastle city centre, the pubs were packed and loud amid the singing of regular terrace songs. Mbemba parked his car up outside of Central Station and was mobbed by supporters who lauded him with his own chant. It was all wonderfully joyous.


This week brought the news that Benitez would be staying at St James Park and embarking on the next stage of his project - or Rafalution, as it has come to be known on Tyneside.

Promotion and the title win can be considered mission accomplished but only in the sense that it was the job that needed to be done first.

Now for the next step in which we will find out just how solid the foundations of the Rafalution are.


NUFC 2016-17 FIXTURE LIST

Date	KO	TV/Cup			Scorers	Att
05-Aug	7.45pm	Sky	Fulham (A)	0-1		23,922
13-Aug			Huddersfield Town (H)	1-2	Gayle	52,079
17-Aug	7.45pm		Reading (H)	4-1	Hayden, Ritchie, Gayle 2	48,209
20-Aug			Bristol City (A)	1-0	Gayle	22,512
23-Aug	7.45pm	LC2	Cheltenham Town (H)	2-0	Perez 2	21,972
27-Aug	5.30pm	Sky	Brighton & Hove Albion (H)	2-0	Lascelles, Shelvey	49,196
10-Sep	5.30pm	Sky	Derby County (A)	2-0	Gouffran, Yedlin	30,405
13-Sep	7.45pm		Queens Park Rangers (A)	6-0	Shelvey 2, Perez, Clark Mitrovic, Hanley	17,404
17-Sep			Wolverhampton Wanderers (H)	0-2		52,117
20-Sep	7.45pm	LC3	Wolverhampton Wanderers (H)	2-0	Ritchie, Gouffran	34,735
24-Sep	5.30pm	Sky	Aston Villa (A)	1-1	own goal (Elphick)	32,062
28-Sep	7.45pm		Norwich City (H)	4-3	Gayle 3, Gouffran	48,236
01-Oct			Rotherham United (A)	1-0	Atsu	11,653
15-Oct			Brentford (H)	3-1	Clark, Gayle 2	51,885
18-Oct	7.45pm		Barnsley (A)	2-0	Gayle 2	18,597
22-Oct			Ipswich Town (H)	3-0	Perez 2, Ritchie	51,963
25-Oct	7.45pm	LC4	Preston North End (H)	6-0	Mitrovic 2, Diame 2, Ritchie, Perez	49,042
29-Oct			Preston North End (A)	2-1	Mitrovic 2	20,724
05-Nov			Cardiff City (H)	2-1	Atsu, Gouffran	51,257
20-Nov	1.15pm	Sky	Leeds United (A)	2-0	Gayle 2	36,002
26-Nov			Blackburn Rovers (H)	0-1		52,092
29-Nov	7.45pm	LCQF	Hull City (A)	1-1*	Diame	16,243
02-Dec	7.45pm	Sky	Nottingham Forest (A)	1-2	Ritchie	21,317
10-Dec			Birmingham City (H)	4-0	Gayle 3, Gouffran	52,145
14-Dec	7.45pm	Sky	Wigan Athletic (A)	2-0	Diame, Atsu	14,562
17-Dec			Burton Albion (A)	2-1	Gayle, Diame	6,665
26-Dec	7.45pm	Sky	Sheffield Wednesday (H)	0-1		52,179
30-Dec	7.45pm		Nottingham Forest (H)	3-1	Ritchie, Gayle 2	52,228
02-Jan		Sky	Blackburn Rovers (A)	0-1		18,254
07-Jan		FAC3	Birmingham City (A)	1-1	Murphy	13,171
14-Jan			Brentford (A)	2-1	Gayle, Murphy	11,435
18-Jan	7.45pm	FAC3R	Birmingham City (A)	3-1	Ritchie 2, Gouffran	34,896
21-Jan			Rotherham United (H)	4-0	Murphy, Ritchie 2, Perez	52,208
28-Jan		FAC4	Oxford United (A)	0-3		11,810
01-Feb	7.45pm		Queens Park Rangers (H)	2-2	Shelvey, Ritchie	47,909
04-Feb			Derby County (H)	1-0	Ritchie	52,271
11-Feb	5.30pm	Sky	Wolverhampton Wanderers (A)	1-0	Mitrovic	24,876
14-Feb	7.45pm		Norwich City (A)	2-2	Perez, Lascelles	26,841
20-Feb	8.00pm	Sky	Aston Villa (H)	2-0	Gouffran, own goal (Lansbury)	50,024
25-Feb			Bristol City (H)	2-2	own goal (Smith), Clark	52,131
28-Feb	7.45pm	Sky	Brighton & Hove Albion (A)	2-1	Diame, Perez	30,230
04-Mar	5.30pm	Sky	Huddersfield Town (A)	3-1	Ritchie, Murphy, Gayle	23,213
07-Mar	8.00pm		Reading (A)	0-0		23,121
11-Mar			Fulham (H)	1-3	Murphy	51,903
18-Mar			Birmingham City (A)	0-0		19,796
01-Apr			Wigan Athletic (H)	2-1	Gayle, Ritchie	51,849
05-Apr	7.45pm		Burton Albion (H)	1-0	Ritchie 2	48,814
08-Apr	5.30pm	Sky	Sheffield Wednesday (A)	1-2	Shelvey	28,883
14-Apr	7.45pm	Sky	Leeds United (H)	1-1	Lascelles	52,301
17-Apr			Ipswich Town (A)	1-3	Murphy	25,684
24-Apr	7.45pm	Sky	Preston North End (H)	4-1	Perez 2, Atsu, Ritchie	50,212
28-Apr	7.45pm	Sky	Cardiff City (A)	2-0	Atsu, Hayden	23,153
07-May	12pm		Barnsley (H)	3-0	Perez, Mbemba, Gayle	52,276

Kick-off 3pm unless stated. NUFC score listed first. Sky appearances: 17
*after extra time. Lost 1-3 on penalties.

SCORERS
23 Dwight Gayle
16 Matt Ritchie
12 Ayoze Perez
7 Yoan Gouffran
6 Mohamed Diame, Aleksandar Mitrovic, Daryl Murphy
5 Christian Atsu, Jonjo Shelvey
3 Ciaran Clark, Jamaal Lascelles
2 Isaac Hayden
1 Grant Hanley, Chancel Mbemba, DeAndre Yedlin 
3 own goals
Total goals: 100